BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1001 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair SB 1001 (Yee) - As Amended: June 21, 2012 Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:4-1 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill imposes fees on certain political committees and increases fees on lobbyists, with most of the resulting revenues to be used for the Secretary of State's (SOS's) online disclosure system. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires each committee that qualifies as a committee by virtue of having received contributions totaling $1,000 or more in a calendar year (known as a recipient committee) to pay a fee of $50 per year to the SOS until the committee is terminated. 2)Imposes a penalty of $150 for failure to timely pay the fee in (1). 3)Increases, from $25 to $50, the annual fee each lobbying firm and lobbyist employer pays for each of their registered lobbyists, and makes imposition of this fee mandatory rather than discretionary. 4)Requires the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to enforce the above requirements. 5)Directs one-half of the monies collected pursuant to (3) to the General Fund and the other half of these revenues, plus the revenues generated through the fee in (1), to the newly established Political Disclosure, Accountability, Transparency, and Access Fund, which is to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for maintenance, repair, and improvement of the SOS's online disclosure (Cal-Access) system. SB 1001 Page 2 FISCAL EFFECT 1)Average annual revenue of $440,000 to the Political Disclosure, Accountability, Transparency, and Access Fund: $390,000 from the new fee on recipient committees and $50,000 from the increase in lobbyist registration fees. 2)The SOS will incur annual costs of about $80,000 for one position associated with collection of the fee and monitoring of revenues in the account. The bill earmarks revenues in the new fund to maintenance, repair, and improvement of the Cal-Access system. The SOS estimates annual maintenance costs for the system at about $60,000. The remaining annual revenue ($300,000) may accrue into the fund for up to several years, as improvements to the system, or a new system, could cost in excess of a million dollars. 3)Any costs to the FPPC for enforcement will be minor and absorbable. COMMENTS 1)Purpose . According to the author, "Existing law, pursuant to the Political Reform Act of 1974, requires the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Fair Political Practices Commission, to provide online and electronic filing processes for use by specified political committees, lobbyists, lobbying firms, and lobbyist employers. Those processes must enable a user to comply with all relevant disclosure requirements. The SOS must also make all the data filed available on the Internet for public viewing in an easily understood format. This online reporting and disclosure system is commonly referred to as the Cal-Access system. Cal-Access has had a slew of technical issues recently that have resulted in a lack of access to this information by the public. This information is essential to ensuring transparency and accountability in affairs that directly impact the people of this state. While the SOS has the funding to maintain the existing hardware and software, because of the nature of the antiquated and uncommon technology used, finding parts and qualified people to do the maintenance on such outdated equipment has been increasingly difficult. This bill seeks to raise additional funds to be used on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of the state's online reporting and disclosure system website to ensure that this information is continuously available as it SB 1001 Page 3 was intended to be." 2)Opposition . The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, while acknowledging the problems experience by the SOS with the Cal-Access system, argues that "targeting lobbyists is a punitive measure that will hit non-profit associations especially hard in a difficult recession." Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081